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(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet I.

A. L. MUNSON.

CIGARETTE MACHINE.

N0. 531,736. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

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(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. L. MUNSON.

CIGARETTE MACHINE.

N0. 531,736. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

WiTNESSES: INVENTUR -j WXM MW BY ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 4,

. A. L. MUNSON.

CIGARETTE MACHINE.

No. 531,736. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

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A. L. MUNSON.

CIGARETTE MACHINE.

No. 531,736. Patented Jan. 1, 1895.

WIT/v55; l/vmmme may B) 5 be g (Ne'MUdeL) 6 Sheets-Sheet 6.

A. L. MUNSON.

CIGARETTE MACHINE.

No. 531,736. Patented Jan. 1,1895.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR Z BY ATTORNEYS UITED STATES PATENT ALBERT L. MUNSON, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CIGARETTE-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 531,736, dated January 1, 1895.

Application filed April 3, 1894 Serial No. 506 228, (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. MUNSON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigarette-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to machines for making cigarettes; and particularly to that class of such machines wherein the tobacco in the form of a continuous filler is enveloped by a continuous wrapper strip to one edge of which a line of cement is applied so that when the edges of the strip overlap and meet they will unite completely enveloping the filler to form a continuous cigarette ready to be severed into shortlengths or cigarettes.

My present improvements are directed to the more rapid and economical production of cigarettes of better appearance and more merchantable character, and relate principally to the wrapper-strip folding devices, whereby said strip is manipulated and applied to the continuous filler, and the cigarette formed with more certainty and accuracy, this part of my invention comprising a wrapper former having an outwardly yielding portion, so that, while the wrapper is closely applied to the filler, any inequality or abnormal thickness of the latter will not cause the endwise compression, buckling or disruption of the filler or continuous cigarette, or breaking of the wrapper strip.

My invention further relates to the severing mechanism by which the continuous cigarette is separated into cigarettes proper without buckling or injury to the continuous or separate cigarettes and by which the sharpness of the severing knives or cutters is maintained or renewed without cessation of the operation of the machine.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood I have shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting my improvements, in their useful applications, to

the particular construction which, for the sake of illustration, I have delineated.

In said drawings:Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a cigarette machine embodying my invention, that part of the machine being shown at which the former is situated and the wrapper-strip is applied to the filler. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are side and plan views on an enlarged scale of the main portion of the former. Figs. 5 to 11 are sectional views, on the dotted lines indicated, of Fig. 4. Fig. 12 is a side view of that portion of the former, together with its supporting means, by which an outward yielding movement is permitted. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the said sup porting means. Fig. 14 is an end view of the two portions of the former united. Figs. 15, 16 and 17 are plan, side and end views of the movable part of the former. Fig. 18 is an end view of the cigarette severing devices. Figs. 19 and 20 are plan views showing the same in two positions, the former just before the cutting operation begins and while the cutter is being ground, and the latter when the cutting has been completed. Figs. 21 and 22 are similar views showing a plurality of cutting and corresponding grinding devices. Figs. 23 and 24 are side and end views of another construction of former embodying my invention. Fig. 25 is aside view of a portion of a cigarette machine, showing the use, as a part of my invention, of an endless pliable carrying and protecting tape which passes through the former. Fig. 26 is a plan view of a portion of the former, with the said tape passing through it.

Before entering upon adetailed description of the construction and operation of those parts of the machine which embody and illustrate my present improvements, it may be stated that the complete machine, in which these improvements will be applied for use, will ordinarily comprise first, a means by which the tobacco is prepared and fed in condition to be operated upon by the cigarette forming devices, and known as the tobacco feeding devices, which may include a vertical tobacco conduit, channel or passageway; second, means by which the loose tobacco fed to the machine is prepared in the form of an endless filler and fed forward, and known as the filler-former or filler-forming devices; third, means by which a wrapper strip is fed in position to be fed torward' from a roll or other source of supply in position to meet the filler to envelop the latter, and known as the wrapper strip paying off or feeding devices; fourth, means by which the wrapper strip is curved and turned over the continuous filler to envelop the same, and known as the wrapper tube former or guide, which is formed with or is succeeded by the cigarette former; fifth, means by which a line of paste is applied along the edge of the wrapper strip, known as the pasting device; sixth, means by which the continuous cigarette or wrapper strip with inclosed filler is fed or carried positively forward, known as the cig arette carrier; and seventh, means by which the continuous cigarette is severed into cigarette lengths, known as the severing device.

As combined for use, the above mentioned several devices co-operate to feed the loose tobacco to the machine, prepare such tobacco in the form of a continuous cigarette filler, feed said filler forward to the wrapper strip, feed the wrapper strip forward to meet the filler, partially envelop the filler with the wrapper strip, apply a line of paste to one edge of the wrapper strip, complete the wrapping of the wrapper strip around the filler, and carry the continuous cigarette thus made forward and sever it into cigarette lengths forming complete cigarettes ready for the market.

The above description serves to give a general idea of a machine in which my present invention may be employed, and illustration and further description of such machine, not being necessary to an understanding of my improvements, need not be set forth herein, except as to those parts of the machine with which these improvements are more immediately connected.

Referring to the drawings, and numerals and letters of reference marked thereon, F indicates the wrapper-tube former, to which a wrapper-strip 1 is furnished from a reel or other source of supply, directed by rolls 2, and which receives the filler from the tiller forming devices not shown. The rolls 2 and the former F are supported upon a frame 3. The former comprises a base 4:, preferably a metallic casting, in or on which is supported the wrapperstrip guide and folder 5. The former may be secured to the frame 3 as indicated, by means of a slotted lug 6 on the base 41- and engaging a pin 7 on the frame, and a second lug 8 engaged by a latch 9. At its forward end where the strip 1 is received the former is provided with a flat bottom plate 10 which supports said strip and the filler (not shown), and with bent-over guiding edges or flanges 11 which overlie the edges of the wrapper-strip. Proceeding toward the rear end of the folder 5 its bottom plate becomes more and more curved or concave, as can best be seen from an inspection of Figs. 6 to 10, thereby causing the strip to gradually enfold the filler rod and compacting and giving to the latter a true cylindrical shape. These objects are aided by a top plate 12 which may be situated at or near the middle of the former archingover from one upturned edge of the former to the other and supported thereby. As the former decreases in diameter and the edges of the wrapper-strip approach each other the guiding flanges 11 are dispensed with, and between the plate 12 and the body of the former slots 13 are made, through which the wrapper strip edges may pass, as best seen in Fig. 9, leaving a tongue 14 preferably elastic in character by which the filler is compacted but which can yield to permit the passage of lumps or inequalities in the filler without causing its endwise compression or disruption. At or about the point where the wrapper-strip edges risethrough the slots 13, one of the edges of the former is upright or nearly so as shown at 15. This edge 15 supports that edge of the wrapper-strip which is to be outermost in the completed cigarette and serves to hold it while operated upon by the paste applying whee] orother device 16. Just beyond this point the former-is provided with an inwardly curled flange 17 which folds down the inner edge of the strip 1, and beyond the flange 17, and on the opposite side of the former, is an analogous flange 18, which is, in effect, a bent-down continuation of the support 15, and which serves to fold down the paste-charged edge of the strip 1 over and in position to be caused to adhere to that part of the strip already folded down by the flange 17.

The outwardly yielding portion hereinbefore referred to, of the former, is indicated at 19, consisting in the construction illustrated of a concave or trough-like piece constituting a portion of the former-Walland situated preferably at the most contracted point of the former, the latter being cutaway for the purpose as shown at 26 in Fig. 3. The part 19 is held loosely or movably byany suitable means, such as pins 20, fixed in its sides and engaging recesses or slots 21 in a frame or bracket 22 secured to the main portion of the former or to the main frame of the machine. Guided by the slots 21 the part 19 may move toward or from the axis of the former being pressed in the former direction by a spring 23. The ends of the latter rest in agroove 24 between flanges 25 on the part 19, and the middle portion of the spring engages by flanges 27 or otherwise a transverse wedge 28. Said wedge is mounted in apertures 29 in the bracket 22 and is laterally adjustable to increase or diminish the pressure of the spring 23 by a screw 30 which has a round bearing in an arm 31 of the Wedge and engages by its thread the bracket 22.

The outwardly yielding portion of the former may have more movement or capacity for yielding at one end than the other, and such a construction is shown in Figs. and 24, in which the former is provided with one or more yielding spring tongues 32 divided by slits 33, at their forward ends attached to or integral with the former and at their rear ends free and adapted to move radially as in the case of the part 19 already described.

Thefinal pressure to cause the gummed IIO edge of the strip 1 to adhere to the body of the cigarette may be applied in various ways, for instance by the cigarette carrier hereinbefore referred to. One form of this device is shown at H and consists preferably of apair of endless elastic carrying belts 140, 141, which receive the completely formed and continuous cigarette and grasp and carry the same forward in a straight line with the filler-former and cigarette-former alreadyreferred to. The lower belt 141 is stretched from a roller 142, thence in contact for a considerable distance with the companion belt 140 and returns around a roller 144 and tension roller 144 back to the roller 142. The upper belt is stretched from a roller- 145, thence along in contact for a considerable distance with the companion belt 141 and returns around a roller 146 under a tension roller 146 and over a roller 147 to the roller 145. Each of these belts is so formed as to provide a longitudinal semi-circular recess throughout the length of the belt, the recess of one belt coacting with that of the other belt to form a continuous and unbroken cigarette grasping and carrying tube. Each semicircular recess is bounded longitudinally on its opposite sides by flat surfaces which coact with similar flat surfaces on the companion belt throughout the active portions thereof to form abutting and meeting surfaces which support the semi-circular recesses and prevent too great a pressure on the cigarette that is being grasped between and carried by the belts. The several supporting rollers of these two belts 140 and 141 are flanged to keep them in alignment. Intermediate between the entrance end of the carrier H and its exit end the belts along their active portions are supported and held with their longitudinal flat surfaces in contact one with the other, with the walls of the recesses grasping the continuous cigarette, by an interposed series of rolls, 148, which are so positioned and set with respect to said active portions of the belts as to cause such belts to grasp the cigarette with sufficient firmness to carry it onward without destroying its shape and at the same time draw forward the wrapper strip from the web or other source of supply.

The two endless elastic carrying belts provide an exceedingly eifective means for carrying the finished and continuous cigarette forward and obviously may grasp such cigarette evenly and uniformly throughout a long length thereof so that the strain of its carrying movement is distributed over a long length of the cigarette and thus obviate any danger of disrupting the same. The cigarette being confined between these two belts for some time the line of paste unitingthe two longitudinal edges of the wrapper strip has a chance to become more or less dry so that when the-cigarette ultimately issues from the exit end of the carrier II it will not only be perfectly formed but will be smooth and free from wrinkles. By making each of these carrying belts of some elastic material they may not only be readily stretched around rollers so as to form a continuous cigarette-carrier, but the cigarette receiving and grasping recesses therein are unbroken and free from all joints which have heretofore been present in a continuous carrier of non-elastic material. By reason of the absence of all joints in the carrier belts and the continuous char actor of the recesses therein no objectionable creases are imparted to the completed cigarette and there is no liability of the wrapper being inadvertently caught or pinched between abutting sections as in sectional carriers. The carrying belts may be formed in a suitable mold which will provide the continuous semi-circular recess bounded on opposite sides by the continuous flat surfaces.

The carrying belts 140, 141, are driven continuously in unison, at proper speed, and in unison with the speed of the belts of the filler former by any suitable power transmitting means from the prime motor of the machine. In order to afford an additional protection to the wrapper strip I may combine with the cigarette carrier a flexible and temporary wrapper, which is also preferably continuous and in the form of an endless belt, and which is adapted to envelop or partly envelop the cigarette and insure the wrapper strip. 1 from abrasion or tearing at the times when force is being applied to the continuous cigarette to move it positively forward. This temporary protecting wrapper is also capable of passing with the strip 1 into and through the former, being made a little narrower than the strip 1 so as-not to be lapped by the pastecharged edge of the latter. Such a temporary wrapper, made for instance of a cotton tape, is shown at a in Figs. 25 and 26, being preferably carried and actuated by the pulley 144 and guided by rollers b so as to pass through the former or through a portion thereof and between the operative parts of the belts 140, 141. As the cigarette and wrapper 1 receive their final shape from the former they are partly enveloped by the tape a and so are received by the carrier, the belts 140, 141 engaging and pulling upon the tape (1 instead of directly upon the cigarette.

The severing device-As a continuous cigarette issues from between the carrier belts 140 and 141, of the cigarette carrier it is received and temporarily supported by a short semi-tubularguide 172, see Figs. 18, 19 and 20, near the extremity of which is mounted the severing device I, which consists of a revolving cutter 161 mounted in a cutter head 162 that is arranged to laterally vibrate and to oscillate in ahorizontal plane, or in other words, to vibrate across the longitudinal axis of the cigarette and also in a plane with the axis of the cigarette. The cutter head 162 has a journal 164 that is mounted to swing horizontally in the upper end of a rocking frame 160.

This frame may be rocked, and the cutter head 162 may be swung by any suitable mechanism, for instance, such as that set forth in my Patent No. 526,192, dated September 18, 1894, but as such mechanism forms no part of my present invention it need not be herein further referred to. The combined lateral and horizontal movements of the cutter head result in causing the cutter to sever the continuous cigarette into cigarette lengths while the cigarette is in motion, and without breaking the paper or buckling the severed ends.

For efficient operation the cutter 161 must be very keen, but its frequent operation on the paper of the strip 1 and on the tobacco filaments and grit contained therein rapidly deteriorates its edge. I have overcome this latter difficulty by combining with'the cutter means whereby the edge may be renewed frequently and preferably after each cut. In the construction illustrated, such means consists of a grinder 40, which may be stationary or rotary, and which, at each or at certain of the horizontal swinging movements of the cutter, will be encountered by the edge of the latter in a manner best illustrated by reference to Fig. 19. Thereafter, as the cutter returns to its operative position as shown in Fig. 20, its edge will be keen and capable of quickly and smoothly severing the cigarette without arresting, buckling, deflecting or defacing it. The grinder 40 is preferably in the form of a wheel mounted on bearings 41 so that it may. turn as it is encountered by the cutter, or if preferred the grinder may be positively rotated. I

In Figs. 21 and 22 l have shown means for severing the cigarette ina plurality of places at once, and for keeping sharp a plurality of cutters, so that I am enabled with the same rocking speed of the cutters to double the speed of longitudinal movement of the cigarette and greatly increase the production of the machine. To this end I provide one or more additional cutters 42 and a corresponding holder or holders 43 for the cigarette, for supporting the latter .where it is operated upon by the additional cutter. I also mount in proper relation to such additional cutter a grinder 44 in connection with which and with the grinder 40 the cutters 161, 42, operate as shown in Fig. 21.

In order that the elastic carrier belts 140, 141, may co-operate to evenly and firmly grasp and move positively forward the cigarette, I combine with them means whereby they may be given a uniform tension.

Referring to Fig. 25, 46 is a weight connected by a cord with the arm 47 which carries the tension pulley 146, and which gives to the upper belt 140 an even grasping action. 48 is a similar weight connected by a cord 49 with the arm 50 of the pulley 144, and giving to the belt 141 a grasping action corresponding with that of the belt 140.

I claim- 1. In a cigarette machine, a wrapper-tube former having an outwardly yielding portion, substantially as set forth.

2. The wrapper-tube former for cigarette machines, having means for folding the wrapper strip, and an outwardly yielding portion situated opposite to said means, substantially as set forth.

3. The tapering wrapper-tube former for cigarette machines having means for folding the wrapper strip, and an outwardly yielding portion situated at the contracted portion of the former, substantially as set forth.

4. The wrapper-tube former for cigarette machines having an outwardly yielding portion constituting a part of the operative surface of the former, and a spring supporting said portion, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a former having the portion 19, the spring supporting it, and a laterally movable Wedge supporting the spring, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination in a cigarette machine, of a cigarette carrier comprising contiguous grasping belts, and a flexible strip between said belts for protecting the cigarette, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a wrapper-tube former having an outwardly yielding portion constitutinga part of the former, of a pliable protecting strip passing through the former, substantiallyas set forth.

8. The combination with a cigarette former having an outwardly yielding portion, and a carrier comprising contiguous grasping belts, of a protecting strip for the cigarette between said belts, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination of a rotary cutting disk, a support for the same, means for oscillating said disk laterally, in planes transverse to the plane of its edge, and a grinder adapted to be encountered by the disk when so moved laterally, substantially as set forth.

10. In a cigarette inachine'the combination with means for moving the continuous cigarette, of a rotary severing cutter, means for moving said cutter with the cigarette, and a grinder in the path of the edge of the cutter,

substantially as set forth.

11. In a cigarette machine the combination with means for moving the cigarette, of a rotary cutter, means for moving said cutter with the cigarette, and a revolnble grinder in the path of the cutter-edge for renewing the latter, substantially as set fort-h.

12. In a cigarette machine, a wrapper tube former having suitable edges for manipulating and folding the wrapper on the filler to form a continuous cigarette, and having opposite said edges an outwardly yielding portion, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereofI have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT L. MUNSON.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. GRAHAM, H. N. Low.

IIC 

